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Monday, March 5, 2012

MODULAR HOME FACTORIES NEED TO ATTRACT WOMEN BUYERS

Not long ago men dominated the household decision of buying a house, somewhere in the 1960's. Then women started making their voices heard and just about every corner of the retail market for everything changed. Gone were the ads aimed squarely at men and in came advertising aimed at the real decision makers...women.

One area of the retail market that didn't fully get the message was the modular home industry. Almost every factory has plans in their brochures and on their websites from the those glory days of the 60's and 70's. Renderings from plan books straight out of the post WWII era are still being used to illustrate homes that haven't sold for decades.

Just in case you've been living under a rock, women make the buying decisions on the family home and single women are the fastest growing segment of new home buyers. Modular home factories and certainly most of their authorized builders are still in the mindset that men are actually in control. No wonder you're not selling homes.

Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care:

91% of New Homes

66% PCs

92% Vacations

80% Healthcare

65% New Cars

89% Bank Accounts

93% Food

93 % OTC Pharmaceuticals

Over the next decade, women will control two thirds of consumer wealth
in the United States and be the beneficiaries of the largest
transference of wealth in our country’s history. Estimates range from
$12 to $40 trillion. Many Boomer women will experience a double
inheritance windfall, from both parents and husband. The Boomer woman is
a consumer that luxury brands want to resonate with.

59% of women feel misunderstood by food marketers

66% feel misunderstood by health care marketers

74% feel misunderstood by automotive marketers

67% feel misunderstood by home builders

91% of women in one survey said that advertisers don’t understand them

70% of new businesses are started by women

37% are more likely to pay attention to brands that are committed to environmental causes

25% of all products in a woman’s shopping cart nowadays are environmentally friendly

Single women are becoming a more influential category versus 10 years ago.

Do I have to listen to you?

Isn't it time that modular home factory owners and management take a real hard look at what they offer and how they market to the most influential consumer of new homes?